bealer - 28 June 2009 08:05 AM

Understood - Cheers..
I may even wait further into next year - let things hit even lower.

I know it’s different face to face with someone and striking a deal - but the net prices haven’t come down hardly at all in my opinion.
Another 6-12 months may sway the lazy agents to update their website for once..

DSB.

I believe a lot of property is hanging on due to hope that improvement in the economy will arrive next year.

Although if I was a seller, i`d snap up any reasonable offer, even if it meant loosing some money.

Many Spanish properties were very very cheap when originally purchased.

Some friends of ours only managed to buy there new town house because the boom increased the price of the apt they bought 20 yrs ago from 22,000 Euros (Today exchange rate from peseta) to over 210,000 Euros when they sold.

I guess the ones who bought it arn`t selling anytime soon.Unless the bank gets funny about the negative equity.

The first sign of an issue tends to be an increase in property auctions, might be worth watching out for, but i would be sceptical of using an auction to buy in Spain.

I will wait - it’s all good.
I had looked at direct-auctions.com as they were featured on an ITV Show recently. Didn’t see much online that made it feel like “auction prices” though.

Shall see..
DSB.

bealerDSB - 28 June 2009 08:05 AM

Understood - Cheers..
I may even wait further into next year - let things hit even lower.

I know it’s different face to face with someone and striking a deal - but the net prices haven’t come down hardly at all in my opinion.
Another 6-12 months may sway the lazy agents to update their website for once..

DSB.

I had a laugh when i spotted that programme.

The amount of people in the auction room was funny, you didn`t have to be an expert to spot that guy wasn`t goin to sell that day.

In Spain the commision charged by the agent is huge, paying someone 20,000 Euros on a 200,000 property is criminal, no wounder some estate agents only need to sell less than 10 properties a year to make good money.

If you add all the equations up, its a mess in Spain and anybody who didn`t realise it was an idiot, there are still many idiots in Spain.

Real investers are placing there money in property in areas such as Morroco, Bulgaria, Turkey etc etc.

Spanish property will eventually fall, then climb slightly and level, although as an investment Spanish property is probably dead or at least 20 yrs away from any return value.

I think the only gains will be achieved by rentals in certain areas.

well price are going down , and seen this programme , lot do get cought out . last year my boss looked at a property there was 60.000 euros in the price with english and spanish agent in same town , funny tv show ....

jurdy

There’s a lot of those websites that are still active, but the agents don’t even exist or trade any more. They will only be gone when their web host subscriptions expire. This can pose a problem for anyone trying to gauge average property prices, or for anyone enquiring about properties.

Ultimately there’s no substitute for looking around an area in person.

I hear what you’re saying about some of the prices though. Seems like many people are keeping their asking prices the same and holding out for the moment, but then that’s just me going from what I see browsing estate agent websites. On the ground it’s different and when I talk to agents and vendors, there is plenty of scope for movement.

Either way, it’s always best to be cautious and maintain an eye on the market for signs of movement in either direction-

Agreed - On all counts 😊
Will be in Spain in March - I’m sure that’ll have some change on a lot of things..

Thanks;
DSB.

Don’t forget to bring your haggling hat! 😉

Being in a very similar position to DSB,  This seems to be an interesting thread in the making. Will the brave agents to throw in comments about not waiting till it’s too late etc!! I notice a few are stating this on the web sites etc….

We have just toured the north of Spain and getting to see a house through an agent was,  to put it politely “A Pain”. it was just before Christmas though so we hope for more luck on our return In January. 
If I was a serious seller though I’d be taking a long hard look at how some agents are trying to market their properties , one Northern agent told us:  we don’t submit offers less than 10% of the asking price!!!  We just sold our ocean front CA home at a 34% discount.

It’s been a surprise to us that not many of the homes owned by foreigners are on the market personally/privately .. makes things difficult,  the FSBO (for sale by owner) system used in many countries seems to work extremely well.   
Over the years we have sold our three foreign homes using the FSBO and all went fine,  our last one in the USA is with an agent (due to us having left)  it’s been on the market over a year with a 30% drop in the price, 

For the past six months we have been in contact with many agencies and some have been very helpful..  others not so..with lots of name calling and “we are the only professionals etc!)

As far as properties go in the North it seems they did not get quite so bloated as those in Mallorca and on the Costa’s etc. 
We intend to return North for a rental period to get a good feel for the areas.. as a previous poster stated the locals just let property stand and are not too interested in haggling..nothing wrong with that and that’s their prerogative of course.

On our way North we intend to have a look around the Granada Area where DSB is looking , our main aim being to find a place with a little land for gardening,  and a property that has had the reform done but where we can improve or expand possibly installing a pool , our intention is for a retirement home that will hold it’s own as far as future pricing goes,  skiing is one of our favorite pastimes so we hope the higher elevations prove to have good growing conditions with a little decrease in the Summer temps?

Here in Mallorca the market seems to be “Treading water”  with some building going on but overall, the stories we hear are pretty grim for most,  with many companies on the verge of closing down and folks having to look at renting out as next to no buyers are out looking. Many say prices here did get blown out of all proportion ,only time will tell. 
Our opinion is,  the real crisis has yet to arrive… with all that new currency just made out of” thin air”  the banks must be tottering?
will we ever learn the lessons of boom and bust??  I hope things end at sensible levels for a few years..

so for now thanks for all the advice,  especially from heath 1974, and looking forward to hearing more advice and stories..

fuzzflyer - 02 January 2010 04:30 PM

On our way North we intend to have a look around the Granada Area where DSB is looking , our main aim being to find a place with a little land for gardening,  and a property that has had the reform done but where we can improve or expand possibly installing a pool , our intention is for a retirement home that will hold it’s own as far as future pricing goes.  We hope the higher elevations prove to have good growing conditions with a little decrease in the Summer temps?

Granada province can be very diverse in itself. Temperatures in summer can be very hot in any of inland Andalucian provinces, often averaging high 30?s and low 40?s.

It sounds like you’re looking for a property, perhaps with some character, which is either in a rural or edge of village setting. There are quite a few around at the moment for sale, some over-priced still, some seem bargains. Certainly worth having a look around to see what suits your needs and your budget, whilst getting a feel for the market locally.

direct-auctions are a no fuss auction house/site selling properties below market value.  They are there to help sellers and buyers alike.
They do not hide the fact that their price guideline is below market value.  I guess from a sellers point of view you could say they are there if you are in financial difficulty and need to sell now and for whatever you can get (NB*the reserve price is set by the owner and is only known to auctioneer and owner).  Some people are on the point of being repossessed and this is the only way to get something back and not loose everything. Likewise, some property owners need their cash back now.  The Today programme was not really biased.  Auctions are like anything. On the day it depends who has the money to put down/pay up.  They continually advertise your property until it is sold and it will go into another auction if it does not happen to sell on the first entry.
Their business practice is open, fair and honest.  They will even make sure the property being offered for sale is 100% legal! and also give a free 20year protection insurance to the purchaser, ‘should’ anything unsuspected arise.

I can wholeheartedly recommind them and say ‘It does what it says on the tin’. 

ps - the vendor just pays a ‘one off’ insertion fee to list their property. Plus a much lower commission on a sale than anywhere you will find. So outlay is minimal.